


set fire to our enemies

by thiscalamity



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bucky Barnes-centric, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-14
Updated: 2014-12-14
Packaged: 2018-03-01 12:46:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2773493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thiscalamity/pseuds/thiscalamity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky makes a friend during his payback mission(s) against Hydra.</p>
            </blockquote>





	set fire to our enemies

**Author's Note:**

> so one time, I asked myself "where are all my bucky & jess friendship fics where they blow up hydra bases together?" and well, be the fic you wish to see in the world.  
> also, brief steve/bucky and jessica/natasha because I can't help myself. why not make the fic completely self-indulgent?

In the time between Bucky’s escape from Hydra and when he showed up at Steve’s doorstep, there was a woman.

Thinking back, Bucky’s sure that in another time, he would have been falling all over himself trying to charm her. But in those few months, god, he barely had a grasp on his own personhood. It had never even crossed his mind to acknowledge her as a romantic or sexual option. He had counted it as a point in the “that man is not who I am anymore” category. But he did recognize her worth and her ability to help him – particularly when it came to the destruction of Hydra cells. Hell, she was a force to be reckoned with: a hard glint in her green eyes that flashed like her hands, a stubborn set to her jaw, and a mean right hook. She was an undeniable asset. 

~~~

The first true, tangible feeling that Bucky remembered after his programming started to deteriorate was anger. White hot anger. Though he was still struggling to reconcile his past self with the tangled mess he was then, he couldn’t stop the pure rage that filled him when he thought of the monstrosities that Hydra committed. It didn’t even matter that he was one of the people who those monstrosities were committed on, not really. Because he guesses that’s the second tangible feeling that Bucky felt – compassion. But at this point in his new life, his anger fueled his warpath and the woman, well, she was just as angry.

~~~

Bucky struggled through his memories as much as he could in order to estimate where certain Hydra cells would be located. He couldn’t be exactly sure for most of them, but they trained him to be the best and they paid for it when he caught up to them.

He quickly dismantled and destroyed 3 or 4 cells when he felt that someone was tailing him. At first, he had thought that it was might be Steve, but quickly deemed that that was unlikely. Steve was not traveling alone, but whoever was following him certainly was.

One night, he was camped out in a warehouse not far from what he suspected was another brainwashing facility when he heard a series of noises from outside. It could have been an animal, but he wasn’t taking anything lightly at that time. Slowly, he crept outside, gun at the ready. A quick glance around hadn’t revealed anything, and he had been considering making a sweep around the building when a woman suddenly appeared from around the corner. Quickly spinning to face her, he raised his gun as if to shoot. He felt that twinge of compassion, though, as he stared into her wide eyes.

“Jeez, she said you’d be a bit jumpy.” she grumbled.

Confused by her statement, he furrowed his eyebrows but did not lower his gun. She grimaced.

“Ugh, she knows that I hate to do this.” She scrunched up her face.

All of a sudden, his body started to relax and he found himself examining her more closely, he found himself wanting to lower his gun. He didn’t want to hurt her. Disoriented because his sudden shift in mood, he lowered his gun.

“Ok. Now that I’ve got your attention,”

His body returned to its previous tension, but he did not raise his gun again. He had to admit, she did intrigue him.

“I’m here because a mutual… friend sent me. Heard you’re after Hydra.” A dark gleam came over her eyes.

Unsure of himself, he had been unaware of how to proceed. He had no friends, so of whom she was speaking, he had no idea. However, she had piqued his interest, and he matched her twisted smirk. After a moment, he jerked his chin back toward the warehouse, turned, and walked away. He expected that she would follow him. She did.

~~~

The woman was chatty, but he didn’t say much to her outside of making plans for storming the cells. She never gave her name, but she never asked for his. He had been grateful to her for that. She did, however, tell him many stories about others she had worked with in the past. A woman who could fly and a woman with deadly grace featured in the stories most often, both spoken of with a warm affection in her voice. The only information he offered her was he liked sandwiches when she procured food for them before a raid one night.

The mismatched communication did not put a hindrance on their work, though: they worked together like a well-oiled machine. They were both able to move silently through the bases and take the agents by full surprise. Often, he took a sniper position and she handled the floor combat. They were efficient and deadly; he was impressed with her a great deal. After each raid, the woman radiated grim satisfaction. Bucky had almost wanted to ask her way she was doing this. What had happened to her? Was her story similar to his own? Of course, he didn’t ask.

Sometimes the woman stayed with him for a while, sometimes she left for weeks on end. But together that had taken out nearly 50 Hydra cells, big and small. He noticed that he had grown to care for her, and it made him start to think about where his life was going. In bits and pieces, more and more of his memories were coming back to him. Destroying Hydra cells had been cathartic, but he thought that, maybe, it was time to start exploring what his life could be after this bloodlust dims, exploring things that could make him feel like a person again. He started thinking about friendship, he started thinking about Steve. But the third tangible feeling that Bucky felt was guilt. He was not sure that he could face Steve. The more his memories returned, the greater this fear grew. He could barely stomach himself, how could Steve accept him? He had a feeling this woman knew more about him than she was letting on, and if so, how could she stomach being around him? When these moods overtook him, he threw himself into the fights more. He left them dripping in blood, conflicted about his personhood. How could someone who is not a monster feel this good about destroying others? But he’d look at his companion, covered in as much blood as he was, and she’d laugh or make a stupid joke. He didn’t think she was a monster, and she wasn’t running away in fear from him. That’s when Bucky started feeling like a person again. Beautiful, complex, messy humanness.

~~~

He was pouring over a makeshift blueprint when the woman appeared in the doorway.

“Hey, man. I think this one might be my last raid for a while. I got some stuff I gotta take care of back home.”

He had stared at her for a full minute, careful to not let his emotions show.

“Yeah, ok.”

He would miss working with her.

~~~

Their raid went off without a hitch. After the agents had been taken care of and all the intel had been collected, the woman said, “Back in a tick”, and disappeared down a corridor.

Bucky had grown to trust her over the last few months, so he stayed. After a moment, she returned, holding what looked like a detonator in her hand and waving it back and forth.

“I found their self-destruct thing. Let’s go out with a bang.”

He grinned at her.

They ran out of the building, laughing—high on adrenaline. They watched the sky light up in flames behind them.

Once their laughter died down, the woman turned to him.

“Gonna come back to the States with me?”

He saw no clue of anything in her eyes, no hint of what she wished he would say. And he found himself considering it.

“Maybe I’ll join you soon. I feel like I gotta make that trip on my own. Be safe, though.”

It was the most he had said to her consecutively that wasn’t part of a raid plan. She smiled softly at him and leaned forward to kiss his cheek.

“See you.”

She sauntered off into the trees.

He hadn’t even tensed a single muscle when she had been leaning in.

~~~

He’s been back in the States, back with Steve, for a few months now. A few times he’s thought about trying to find out who the woman was, but he figured it best to focus on getting himself better first. Steve agreed. All things considered, he’s doing fine. He’s fallen into a rhythm and therapy is helping. He feels, fully, like a person again.

Right now, though, he wishes he was anything but a person because then he wouldn’t be so bored. He’s at some gala for Avengers and Co. thrown by Tony Stark. It’s mind numbing. The only thing making the party even remotely bearable is watching Steve try and look interested in what these boring, old, rich people are talking about. Good old Captain America. Silently trying to be supportive of Steve as this man launches into yet another story about sailing, Bucky presses his shoulder against Steve’s. But he tunes out the story. No expects him to pay attention to anything. It’s wonderful.

So he turns his attention to the room at large. He sees Natasha twirling around the room in the arms of a black haired woman. Despite being the smaller of the two, Nat attempts to dip the woman as the song ends and places an exaggerated kiss on her mouth, laughing. Catching sight of the bright, happy smile on the face of the dark haired woman, Bucky suddenly recognizes her: the woman from before. Natasha catches his eye, then turns to say something to her dance partner. The woman turns and that bright, happy grin is being directed at him. He realizes he _missed_ her. Pressing an absent kiss to Steve’s shoulder (who looks vaguely betrayed as Bucky retreats), he starts to make his way toward Natasha and the other woman.

“Hey, you.” She says once he’s in hearing range.

Natasha’s smile is smug and Bucky realizes that she was the “mutual friend”. He’s kind of disappointed in himself that he hadn’t figured that out before.

“Bucky, this is Jessica. Jessica Drew. I believe you’ve met.”

He smirks, “Maybe once or twice.”

Jessica laughs.

“It’s good to see you again,” he says.

“You too. I hope you didn’t blow up too many Hydra agents without me.”

“Never.” he smiles.

~~~

The next day, Bucky and Jessica meet up for coffee. She shows up in a cardigan that Bucky recognizes as Natasha’s, and he’s also disappointed in himself for not figuring out that Natasha has been seeing someone. Maybe his spy skills have gone soft during these domestic months with Steve. He pushes those thoughts aside and focuses on the story that Jessica is telling about fighting a dinosaur with Carol Danvers. The future is fucking weird.

Jess is even easier to talk to outside of destructive activities. They spend hours in the coffee shop. She tells him about why she hates Hydra, what he father did to her and her mother. She tells him about her struggles with accepting herself as a hero, as a good person, because of what Hydra had made her do. He finally opens up to her, talking about what happened to him, even though he’s still pretty sure she already knows all of it.

When they part in the evening, he’s watching her walk down the street and it hits him: he’s found a great friend in Jessica Drew. 

**Author's Note:**

> find me [here](http://itsjustmemle.tumblr.com) here on tumblr


End file.
